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NOW 40 - Summer ‘98: Rob Johnson
The United Kingdom in Summer 1998 was an interesting place indeed.In June, the DVD was released for the first time and presumably the first person to ignore random extras, interviews and photo galleries was welcomed with open arms. The Crime and Disorder Act introduces Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOS) was introduced into our vocabulary and the tabloids jumped for joy at the possibility of a plethora of new, stupid headlines about 3am parties, alcopop-fuelled teenagers and wheelie bins.Significantly, it was also almost a year since an historic, seismic shift in the country’s cultural and political landscape. The release of Be Here Now.(Checks notes - and Labour’s political landslide victory.)And since the Gallagher Brothers self-obsessed, grandiose and frankly rubbish collection of bloat had detonated Britpop, the music scene in UK had undergone a transformation poptastic proportions. And, let’s be honest, not a moment too soon.As always, the ever trustworthy team at NOW, That’s What I call Music HQ were on hand to deliver a sterling snapshot of the summer’s latest and greatest chart toppers. And the series reached another monumental milestone - volume 40. Pop Life was beginning indeed!Step forward, er, Steps! Fifteen year old Billie (no Piper yet folks) who was setting the charts alight with her debut, Aqua who were proving that they were no doll-sized one hit wonders by heading out into the jungle and the almost-a-four piece Spice girls (Get well soon Geri!) were delivering (quite possibly) their finest moment yet. Viva, girls!Add dance music, DANCE MUSIC - well where to begin? Mousse T (with a little help from Chris Tarrant!), Fatboy Slim, David Morales, Lucid and The Tamperer were delivering slices of high powered BPM perfection. WHAT did the charts look like with a chimney on it? But, BUT, our favourite variously compiled brand were not having it all their way in 1998. Those pesky folks over at HITS had more than something to say about that. And plenty of huge (Fresh? New?) hits were now missing from NOW.Which side were you on?Let the compilation battles commence - AGAIN! Joining myself and Pop Music Activism supremo and saviour of pop streaming Rob Johnson as we revisit summer 1998 and NOW 40!As well as all of the above, find out why the CD single was still the BOSS, explore the seventies disco revival impact on the charts, how Iceland was trending setting, rediscover the incredible adventure of remixing supermos The Trouser Enthusiasts and join us as we begin the search for the Irish Billie, the calypso queen of Aldi (possibly), Kerri-Ann. It is a pop journey that you really don’t want to miss. Let’s Go! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1:16:45
The Back To Now Review - 2024
Welcome, everyone, to the Back to Now review for 2024!Following in the well-loved festive traditions such as fingering your way through the double edition Radio Times, fumbling your way to the back of the cupboard for the remnants of last year’s Baileys or just thumbing through some nuts next to an open fire, we bring you a finale to another variously compiled year in pop in the company of some wonderful, wintry guests. Author of the year and close friend of Hazell Dean - Ian Wade!Compiler of the year and close friend of Bryan Ferry - Mark Wood!Shake off those snowy boots, grab an eggnog to go and join three ‘wise’ men as we forensically (well, not really, actually) examine twelve months of pop extravaganza including Sabrina, Charli, Billie and probably a few others that may have got a look-in at the charts of 2024. We also pull a cracker to reveal our albums of the year including such delights as the Pet Shop Boys and The Cure. And of course, it wouldn’t be the perennial end of year episode without shining a Christmas star spotlight on another year of stellar NOW releases. What were our highlights, surprises, favourites of the 2024’s FORTY compilations? We celebrate all of our selections from the variously compiled chocolate box - Yearbooks, Vaults, Millenniums, 12”s and much more. We ask the question on everyone’s (possibly) lips - what can 2025 hold for the world’s biggest and best iconic compilation series?Will we see more 70s Yearbooks?How will the iconic numbered series evolve?Can Das Psych-oh Rangers really make it onto a Vault album?And of all of this wasn’t enough of a soundtrack to your present wrapping, we also celebrate Duran Duran’s ongoing brilliance and appearance on NOW, revel in a range of other (there are OTHER?) compilations of 2024 and dip back into 1984 (yes, AGAIN!) as we examine Band Aid Forty and the legacy of Bob and Midge (and Trevor’s!) era-defining clanging chimes of Christmas.Forget the cranberry sauce and turn down all of those other invites - the end (of another pop year) is here! And you are warmly welcomed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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59:17
NOW 33 - Spring ‘96: Neil Collins
Ideas, experiments, imagination.So, what was the optimum Britpop™️ year? Academics, thinkers and BBC documentary makers have wrestled over this question for many a year. Possibly even as long as it takes to listen to Be Here Now.1993 - Yanks, go home?1994 - Maybe, perhaps definitely?1995 - Different class, I’d suggest?So where were we by the spring of 1996? Three years of evolution, trademarked Beatles and Kinks mimicking, and countless cans of Red Stripe had taken it’s toll. Would it be perceived wisdom, or 21st century hallowed hindsight, to suggest the original spark of Britpop was beginning to flicker as the winds of pop change were ‘spicing’ themselves up in the wings?There’s no doubt that the all conquering 94/95 pop of Pulp, Supergrass, blur and Oasis were still casting a huge Union Jack shaded shadow over the charts. But, oh, there was so much more! (We’ve been here before, haven’t we?)Big dance acts! (Some faceless, some disguised as wrestlers!)Big pop acts (Some a bit cheesy, some disguised as Eternal and Lighthouses!)Big legacy acts (Some a bit past it, some disguised as Queen, some having soap stars being sick in their hair!)But lest we forget, as 1996 got underway and the first BIG NOW of the year presented 4o Top Chart Hits for our delectation - whether your ‘flava’ was pop, rock, dance or hippy - there was an unbridled swagger and confidence to the music. The decade had shaken off any allusions of baggy or grunge and was telling us we could indeed live forever. Viva Forever, as some might (and indeed will) say! Join author and all round 90s pop kid Neil Collins as we revisit NOW33 and the spring of 1996. 'Neil's new book International Velvet: How Wales Conquered the 90s Charts revisits the unforgettable Cool Cymru era when the Manics, Catatonia, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and many more won over the masses!Along the way rediscover how TV adverts were still providing a soundtrack to our denim purchases and drink breaks. How dads were very well catered for in the mid 90s (rock bands, not Louise!), what cassettes were in Neil’s parents car as they attempted to break the traffic system of Paris, and why NOW33 has the best ending of ANY compilation EVER. And there’s even honourable mentions for the Smurfs and Robson & Jerome! Don’t look back in (too much) anger! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1:03:54
NOW Yearbook ‘81: ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK
Dylan Jones once described the Eighties as being shaped by ‘a new type of bohemianism, one empowered by a certainty and an optimism that was only fleeting back in the sixties.’ *Moreso, K.Tel records importantly reminded us that home taping was killing music. So, it’s November 1981, and this young music fan is feverishly taking ownership of two cassettes in his local Woolworths. One blue, one red. One bought, one free. Together this maiden compilation purchase - from the aforementioned compilation giant K.Tel, Charthits ‘81 - as kicked off by the ever so eighties drum crash from Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin – was the start of a lifelong love for variously compiled pop. One that would lead to, well, NOW. Forty years later and the superlative team at NOW HQ delivered their Yearbook for 1981. 85 of the biggest, brightest and best hits (thank you Mr. Mulligan for that very nice tagline). A year that started tragically with the death of John Lennon, and ended with Susanne and Joanne from the Human League with spray foam in their mouths amidst highly flammable Christmas trees in BBC Television Centre.And inbetween, a dazzling twelve months where the decade began to take shape and form an identity that remains with us today. Pop, soul, disco, funk, rock, reggae and metal. All present and correct. But, as Thursday nights on BBC1 would testify through those iconic theme tunes of Tomorrow’s World and the newly christened TOTP Yellow Pearl in July, electronica was elbowing its way through the queue at the Blitz club to make a defining mark on the sights and sounds of 1981.With the able assistance of guests Chi and Ian from ElectricityClub.co.uk, this episode revisits the NOW Yearbook 1981 (and it’s stellar accompanying extra volume!). An iconic line up of music and memories awaits including Duran, Duran, Ultravox, Soft Cell, Kim Wilde, The Human League and ABBA. We explore how the year saw some seventies survivors glam up and mobilise for this new decade with assistance from the new video pioneers such as Russell Mulcahy and David Mallet. We also consider how retro never sounded so good, what made a good (and bad) medley hit, how tribal factions and cultural identity shaped our school days (and the streets across the UK), how news and popular culture were living under the ever present threat of global destruction and how pop saved us all once again.Grab some blank tapes, switch off one of the three channels on your TV and join us as we head back to a glorious year in pop, 1981.Ridicule is, as you know, nothing to be scared of. * Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics: Dylan Jones (2020) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1:02:49
NOW - The Summer Album - July ‘86: Tim Worthington
We’re going where the sun shines brightly,We’re going where the sea is blue…1986 really was very Cliff. He had celebrated his first No1 of the 80s with the cast of The Young Ones, featured in some devastating billboard action in the (rerun) finale of the aforementioned BBC comedy show, been covered by the TVam rat and gerbil, and even had one of his most famous songs feature on a rather unique (and quite frankly ghastly) novelty Euro hit. And in July of the very same year, this very prominent track (it’s Summer Holiday folks!), Cliff’s ubiquitous seasonal anthem to double decker buses and Una Stubbs, was sitting proudly as track 1 side 2 on the latest NOW, That’s What I Call Music album.But wait!The gloriously designed blue sky and beach umbrella that housed the latest variously compiled pop selection was not to feature such 1986 chart toppers as Wham!, Dr and the Medics and Chris De Burgh(!). This wasn’t the impending 7th volume of the (rapidly becoming) world famous series of compilations, this was NOW - The Summer Album, and it was…well, different.Just as the wonderful team had done in November 1985 with NOW - The Christmas Album, here was the brand’s second venture into a ‘theme’. And what a theme it was! Four decades of summer anthems, summer hits, sizzling memories - phew what a scorcher!But as it transpires, with guest Tim Worthington, we discover that the album announced from the pages of Smash Hits in July 1986 (featuring the most summery of acts, The Jesus and Mary Chain!) was much more than that just sun loungers and factor 30. Because growing up in the 70s/80s in the UK summer was often quite different indeed!What NOW - The Summer Album perhaps did do, was provide a template of summers we all wished we’d known; a sixties summer of love, a fifties summer of rock n roll, a seventies summer of…cricket (?) and of course an eighties summer of Radio One roadshows, and quite probably, traffic jams.It was an album that also provided a range of genres, new bands from the past to discover and a template for all summer soundtracks to come.So, dive back into an iconic chapter in the NOW series. Find out how some VERY big pop names appeared (TWICE!), why sound effects always make summer songs better, how some songs were longer (and shorter!) than others and why John Menzies probably didn’t anticipate how well this summer set would sell.And importantly, remember your Plymouth dealer is, indeed, a dealing man. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1:05:12